APCO Delighted at Fuel Savings with Scania Fleet - and the drivers are pretty happy as well.

In-depth

20 Aug

Victorian-based independent fuel retailer APCO Service Stations is a proud family-owned business, which has recently made the move to Scania prime movers, and the results have been very positive all round.

With 27 retail outlets around Victoria and southern New South Wales, the 56-year-old Anderson family-run business (Anderson Petroleum Company) delivers significant volumes of fuel 24/7 to its outlets that could be as close as down the road from its Geelong base, or as far away as Wodonga on the Victorian/NSW border.

With trucks running 24 hours a day 7 days a week, the km are clocked up in double-quick time, even by interstate transport standards. Kilometres travelled vary between 300,000 – 400,000 km annually. The prime movers pull locally sourced B-double Holmwood Highgate and ATE tanker trailers.

What’s most noticeable for Transport Manager Scott Curtis, over seven years in the job at APCO, but with 38 years of transport logistics with some of the biggest names in trucking under his belt, is that the drivers simply love their new Scanias.

Currently the core fleet has 6 prime mover B-double tanker sets on the road, including a Scania G 560, and an R 620 V8 - which in 15 months on the road has already accumulated 450,000 km. An R 660 V8 was added to the fleet in December 2024 and is hooked up to a new 23 m B-double set of Holmwood Highgate tankers.

“When you run 24/7, reliability is the key,” Scott says. “And when they are due to be serviced, you need the service carried out quickly and effectively. We have been fortunate to have Scania’s authorised dealer PJ&T Motors near us in Geelong to look after these trucks, all of which are on the Scania Repair and Maintenance contract.

“The service we have had from PJ&T has been excellent, even out of hours, and we really get on well with Jock McMahon. Nothing is too much trouble, and Travis Damianopoulos our Scania sales rep has been super helpful as well,” he said.

“The service from PJ&T has been a big part of us actually ordering more trucks,” Scott reports. “Dale, who collects the truck, is the technician who services it and then he brings it back to us and we really like this. We can build a relationship with him, and another benefit is we don’t have to take the truck to Melbourne for a service as we lose productivity.

“We came to Scania after deciding to switch our supplier and Scania filled the bill very well,” Scott said.

“The driver response to the new trucks has been very impressive. We run a team of four allocated drivers per truck each doing 12-hour shifts. A typical week for the R 660 and R 620 could see them travel 7,500 km – 9,500 km just within Victoria. Our other smaller combinations don't do quite the same km, but they probably still do 300,000 km a year.”

“Driver acceptance has been nothing short of fantastic. They actually love them! The drivers thought the previous European truck they were in was good, but they wouldn’t go back now. And the guys who came out of the American truck into the G 560 are also very impressed with it.

“The Driver Score system is fantastic, too. The drivers have really taken to it and they're getting amazing scores. All the drivers have their (electronic personalised) tags now and they are very focused on their scores. They are getting fantastic results, so I am happy.

“The drivers discuss their scores with each other, swap tips, and have the driver app that downloads all their data into it. It's become a bit of a talking point between the drivers. If their score is down today, they're trying to work out why. I believe it has made them even safer drivers as a lot of the scoring is based around anticipation.

“The Scania Retarder has also been a hit with the DG fleet drivers. Being able to preset a speed and use the retarder for a hill decent is a great feature. It give the drivers peace of mind that the retarder will hold the combination at the set speed without having to use the brakes.”

“We load out of fuel terminals in Geelong or out of Melbourne, and mostly we deliver the full load to one destination, so the trucks are running empty 50% of the time. We have seen very impressive fuel from all of our Scanias. The R 620 and R 660 with the V8s return around 2.0 - 2.1 km/litre as 23 m B-doubles grossing 68.5-tonnes. The standout has been G 560 which has been consistently returning 2.6 km/litre as a 19 m B-double grossing 57.5-tonnes. We are really happy with the fuel consumption of all the Scanias.”

“We've got another G 560 on order. We have worked for the last few months in getting the G 560 PBS approved so it can tow either of our 20 m PBS combinations. We see the G 560 as a universal prime mover in the future that can go between the 19 m or 20 m PBS combinations.

“Scania’s 3150 mm wheelbase is an advantage when we are towing length-critical 20 m PBS combinations. It allows us to have a bull bar fitted and still be within length regulations. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the work travelling country roads at night, the chances of wild life strikes are increased, and the bull bars offer greater protection.”

“With such high km year-on-year, the R 620 & R 660 trucks are on a Scania two-year, 800,000 km service and maintenance contract, with the G 560 on a three-year 900,000 km contract. At the end of the term we will see if it is viable to put them on a maintenance-only contract or look at moving them on.”

“Overall, the Scanias have been fabulous for us. As standard they have some fantastic features like the fridge, the air conditioner that works without the truck engine running, the driver score system and their numerous safety features. Even the small details, like the driver can type in the chassis number for the truck he is driving into his app, and it will show him what every switch does along with videos of various features,” Scott said. “It’s all in the box, that’s how I would characterise it. All we add is the bull bar and some sign writing and scrollwork.”

**How to put a smile on the dial – get ‘em a new Scania**

Travis Damianopoulos from Scania Laverton says the APCO experience is typical of DG transport companies, many of whom across Australia have switched to Scania in search of reliability and uptime as well as predictable operating costs.

“With such tight deadlines and the need for trucks to be delivering day-after-day, Scania’s proven record in this industry makes our trucks an obvious choice. And by using all of Scania’s tailored services such as fleet management, the Scania Driver App, Driver Training and Repair and Maintenance contracts, Scott and his team not only have full visibility of how their trucks are performing, but they have motivated their drivers to pay close attention to how they are driving which leads to safer on-road outcomes for everyone.

“We look forward to continuing to build the APCO fleet with additional Scania trucks through 2025 and beyond,” he said.